Merging updates and fixes with original esp?

[dragonlofti]

Any reason why not to do this? I found a message (which I can't find now) saying that some person merged all the DLC modules with their updates and then merged them all together into one big merged esp and has had no problems.  I know that one should not be uploading that for legal reasons, but is there any reason one cannot do the merging and use it for themselves?

[gregathit]

Anytime you merge files that contain scripts you risk breaking things.  It is that simple.

You would need to be a VERY advanced modder and VERY familiar with what plugins contained so that you could merge them in such a way to make sure the script that NEEDED to overwrite the other did so.  Depending on the number of plugins you were looking to do this to it could take a huge amount of planning\research to head off potential problems.

 

Your chances of things actually working correctly are very slim especially in the light of all time it would take.

 

Worst of all is that your stuck.  New version of a plugin comes out and your potentially back to redoing the thing.

 

Merge things like armors\weapons\clothing together (as long as they are not scripting heavy) and leave it at that.  You'll pull less of your hair out. 

[dragonlofti]

Thanks Gregathit for the info!

[Nephenee13]

It is possible to do this.

 

You have to use TESIVGecko and its "Merge to Master" function.

 

I've combined the DLCs with their Unofficial Patches doing this.

 

What you do is in Wrye Bash you right click the ESP you want to merge the patch into, and select "ESMify Self". After that is done, open up TESIVGecko and select the "Merge to Master" function. Change to show "All Files" and select the ESP you ESMified. Then select the ESP you want merged into it. (make sure you make backups!)

 

Once thats done, go back to Wrye Bash and find the ESMified ESP, and right click and select "ESPify Self". Make sure you deactivate the old patch and any duplicates that may have been created by TESIVGecko.

[dragonlofti]

Thanks Nephenee!

 

I'll give that a try since I'm pushing my esp limit . The DLC's seem stable in the sense, long time since any update or patch, so these seem safe enough to avoid the issues that gregathit brings up.

[Nephenee13]

Thanks Nephenee!

 

I'll give that a try since I'm pushing my esp limit . The DLC's seem stable in the sense, long time since any update or patch, so these seem safe enough to avoid the issues that gregathit brings up.

Make sure you clean the DLCs using TES4Edit before merging them with the patches.

[dragonlofti]

Had already done that, but thanks for the reminder!